Respiration is needed to supply the blood with oxygen so that the blood can deliver oxygen to all of the parts of the body. This means that it is a process and as such has a chemical equation rather than a chemical formula. The equation, therefore, is C6H12O6 + 6O2 ----> 6CO2 + 6H2O, which equates to Glucose + Oxygen ------> Carbon dioxide + Water.
This process is achieved through breathing by which we inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide. The inhaled oxygen enters the respiratory system through the nose, mouth, trachea, lungs and diaphragm. After being inhaled through the nose and mouth, it passes through the larynx, which is where the sounds for speech are created, and the trachea, which is the tube that passes into the chest cavity.
Once there, the trachea divides into the smaller tubes, which are called the bronchi. This then divides again, to form the bronchial tubes. These lead directly into the lungs where they divide yet again into many smaller tubes, which connect to the alveoli, which are tiny sacs.
On average, an adult has 600 million alveoli in their lungs. The inhaled oxygen makes its way into the alveoli and then diffuses into the capillaries that surround them, and from there it goes into the arterial blood. At the same time, the waste-rich blood from the veins passes its carbon dioxide into the alveoli, which follows the same passage as the inhaled oxygen, only in reverse.
The diaphragm, which is a layer of muscles that lie across the bottom of the chest cavity, helps to pull the oxygen into the lungs and to expel the carbon dioxide out of them by contracting and relaxing: When it contracts, oxygen is pulled into the lungs; when t relaxes, carbon dioxide is exhaled.
This process is achieved through breathing by which we inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide. The inhaled oxygen enters the respiratory system through the nose, mouth, trachea, lungs and diaphragm. After being inhaled through the nose and mouth, it passes through the larynx, which is where the sounds for speech are created, and the trachea, which is the tube that passes into the chest cavity.
Once there, the trachea divides into the smaller tubes, which are called the bronchi. This then divides again, to form the bronchial tubes. These lead directly into the lungs where they divide yet again into many smaller tubes, which connect to the alveoli, which are tiny sacs.
On average, an adult has 600 million alveoli in their lungs. The inhaled oxygen makes its way into the alveoli and then diffuses into the capillaries that surround them, and from there it goes into the arterial blood. At the same time, the waste-rich blood from the veins passes its carbon dioxide into the alveoli, which follows the same passage as the inhaled oxygen, only in reverse.
The diaphragm, which is a layer of muscles that lie across the bottom of the chest cavity, helps to pull the oxygen into the lungs and to expel the carbon dioxide out of them by contracting and relaxing: When it contracts, oxygen is pulled into the lungs; when t relaxes, carbon dioxide is exhaled.
